36 volt Forklift battery

JohnnyG
JohnnyG Registered Users Posts: 1
I have a new-ish 36 volt Forklift battery (2200#) but the lift itself croaked and is not worth fixing.

I'm playing with the idea of splitting this battery top connections into three 12 volt banks.  It is built as 18 separate 2 volt cells.

I figure I can do a series/parallel hook-up that give us some serious amp hours

Any reason you guys see that this would not work?

Comments

  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Those would be beefy 12V banks,  What do you have that would keep them charged?

    Speaking of charged, keep the batteries charged, even if the lift is dead, if the batteries sit, they self-discharge, and forklift cells have a high discharge rate,  They go low, and then they die.  Don't let them die.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Some information on how to rewire fork lift battery bus bars:

    http://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/351114/how-to-dissasemble-then-reassemble-odd-forklift-type-batteries

    Also, some (few, many, all?) forklift batteries may need the metal case/support for their cases (relatively thin wall).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,812 ✭✭✭✭
    BB. said:


    Also, some (few, many, all?) forklift batteries may need the metal case/support for their cases (relatively thin wall).

    -Bill
    Duct tape

    Seriously....hardware store carry 250' rolls of 3/4" thin steel for hanging conduit etc.

    I'd make a 24 volt and a 12 volt battery out of it.
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries